# Need food ideas for 70th bday bash (not what you think)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-food-ideas-for-70th-bday-bash-not-what-you-think/1030339>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** food-cooking\
**Created:** [May 23, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-food-ideas-for-70th-bday-bash-not-what-you-think/1030339 "2026-05-23T21:10:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-food-ideas-for-70th-bday-bash-not-what-you-think/1030339/21 "2026-05-25T00:05:39Z")

</div>

Oh, that’s a good idea.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-food-ideas-for-70th-bday-bash-not-what-you-think/1030339/22 "2026-10-23T08:40:30Z")

</div>

Okay, reviving an almost-zombie here, but I personally like it when posters who posed questions return with how they resolved matters, so here is my very happy update:

The party was held recently and was AWESOME. Because of comments here and elsewhere, I grudgingly gave in to a “70’s” theme, even though the copyeditor inside me screamed “but he was born in the 1950s - why the hell does a 1970s theme make sense?” I learned to accept: **A 70s theme is cool, roll with it.**

So: we decorated with lava lamps and disco balls, and the band played 70s music. People were invited to wear 70s clothing if they wanted, no pressure. This resulted in a relaxed environment and some awesome clothing.

Before the party I called our local food bank and asked them what kind of contributions would be most helpful, then set a goal of “let’s try to collect at least 70 of these particular items.” In the event, we greatly exceeded the goals, collecting 231 ramen/saimin packets, 96 water bottles, 74 cans of soup/meat/fish with pop-tops, and $70. (We’re in Hawaii and just had lots of hurricane damage, hence those particular items).

As for the chocolate, we made excellent party favors consisting of little pieces of 70% chocolate we made ourselves from our own cacao trees.

So, huge success. Thanks to the posters in this thread for pointing me in the right direction. The party was a lot of work, but well worth it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-food-ideas-for-70th-bday-bash-not-what-you-think/1030339/23 "2026-10-23T12:31:33Z")

</div>

That sounds like a lot of fun. Also, the birthday boy was in his teens and 20s in the 70s, and lots of people always enjoy music from that time in their life. We always play “music popular when we were in college” at college reunions. Which, i guess is more thematic, but it’s leaning on the same general feature of music tastes.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-food-ideas-for-70th-bday-bash-not-what-you-think/1030339.md?page=1)